The advent of on-line bridge has had many benefits: For example, you can’t revoke or lead out of turn. One drawback is the demise of “table feel”: picking up on an opponent’s manner and tempo. (That is perfectly legal, but inferring from your partner’s hesitations is not.)

In a face-to-face game, West led the jack of hearts against four spades, and declarer played low from dummy and took his ace. He led the jack of clubs, and West won and led a second heart: queen, king. East cashed the nine of hearts and led a diamond.

South might have finessed with the queen a defensible percentage play but his table feel told him that West had the king. So South took the ace and cashed dummy’s A-K of trumps, following with his four and seven.

When West’s queen fell, South led high clubs from dummy. When East ruffed, South overruffed, got back to dummy by leading his deuce of trumps to the three, and finished the clubs to pitch his diamonds.

Making four. Well felt.

Daily question >> You hold: ? A K 3 ? Q 6 2 ? 6 4 ? K Q 10 9 4. You open one club, your partner bids one heart and the next player overcalls one spade. What do you say?

Answer >> If you use “support doubles,” you can double to show three cards in hearts. A bid of two hearts would show four-card support. I don’t advocate that treatment: The remainder of the auction can be murky, and the chance to penalize an ill-judged overcall is lost. I would bid two hearts.

North dealer

E-W vulnerable

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